Da Bass

Hi all, I'm a newbie, and proud of it. I've read through some of the newbie info and had some questions on a few basses. I'm looking on the $300-$500 range, $$'s tight ya know. I used to have a Warckick Rockbass, which I loved and sold cuz I was stupid, so I'm looking for something different just for a change. Anyhow, I was looking at the Peavey Grind series, there aren't really any reviews, does anyone have an opinion? I'm also looking at the Cort Curbow models, possibly some Spector models. I also found a Tobias Pro 5 used. But after what I've heard, I'm a bit hesitant about the electronics. Is it the PU's or the preamp? If anyone has any opnions on what I've listed or any other ideas it would be appreciated.

At the upper end of your price range, I would look at the MTD Kingston. A lot better bass than most of the ones that you have mentioned. Another great choice would be a G&L Tribute L2000 or L2500, but they are a little over $500.

The electronics in the Korean Tobias basses are the weak point. The wood is good quality, and the basses are pretty well made. If you can live with the stock tone and output, they are a good value. If you can't, you would have to invest in a new preamp at least, and possibly some new pickups.

hmmm....well that rules out the Tobias I think, It dies look cool though. What about the Ibanez stuff, I know they make a lot of different bass models, but I can't keep 'em straight. I have a friend who swaers by Washburn as well, but I've never played 'em This is just going to be a good all around bass, used for practicing, and playing out, no preference on music type. Gizmo's like "actives" (an on board pre-amp at this price) would be cool, but not a requirement. See the problem is I have to sell some of my guitar gear to do this, the more I lower my price, the lower my budget goes...

I think most of these are good basses for the money, it's a great time to be starting to play bass. When I was looking for my 1st bass, all I could find were cheap P-bass knockoffs and that was about it. I've had a Cort Curbow, had to sell it for financial reasons but I wish I'd been able to keep it. Cheap enough new, but even cheaper used, IMO better sounding with the older Mighty Mite pickups. The OLP MM's are nice too, if you like the MM style. I played an OLP and a real MM back to back to compare them, and the one big difference was that one was 6 times the price of the other. Sure, there were differences, but I couldn't imagine buying a new Music Man. Both are easily upgradeable down the road you want to change your sound. I don't much care for Ibanez, no specific horror stories but they just seem to be a generic "yep, that's a bass" sort of things to me. I know they have their fans though. The Kingston is really sharp. I'd want to consider availability of replacement pickups, figuring someday you might want to upgrade, since these are nice enough instruments to want to hold on to. Bartolini makes pickups that will fit the Cort, maybe other companies do too, and the MM style pickup in the OLP and Kingston is available from many different companies.

Hmm...The MM's look cool, vintage and modern, anyone have any thoughts on the Jay Turser models? He makes a MM copy as well for about the same $$ as the OLP. Don't know why but something about OLP makes me feel ooogy.